Worcester State PSA

Courtesy of Worcester State Sports Information 

Over the weekend of Friday, January 24 through Sunday, January 26, four Worcester State staff members and two student-athletes attended the APPLE Conference in Newport Beach, California.

The goal of the APPLE conference is to assist colleges in empowering teams of student-athletes and administrators while helping them create an institution-specific action plan. The Worcester State team proposal included organizing an orientation for student-athletes revolving around some of the issues that they learned, specifically with regards to alcohol abuse.

Joining sophomore Mike Piantedosi of the men’s track and field team and junior Taylor Tomasetti of the women’s tennis team were Kelly Downs, Assistant to the Athletic Director for Academic Support, Josh Katz, Judicial Coordinator, Jen Quinn, Health and Wellness Educator and Carrie Stevens, Residence Director of Chandler Village.

On campus, Tomasetti is also a residence assistant at Chandler Villiage and Piantedosi is one of the organizers for new student and transfer orientation during the summer. 

The NCAA sponsored symposium, run through the Gordie Center for Substance Abuse Prevention at the University of Virginia, is dedicated to prevent substance abuse and for the health promotion for student-athletes and athletics department administrators.

In attendance at the seminar were 23 Division I schools, four Division II institutions and five represented Division III. The only other university from the New England region was fellow MASCAC school, Bridgewater State.

The goal of the APPLE conference is to assist colleges in empowering teams of student-athletes and administrators while helping them create an institution-specific action plan. The Worcester State team proposal included organizing an orientation for student-athletes revolving around some of the issues that they learned, specifically with regards to alcohol abuse.

 “We’re really excited about the action plan we came up with to help provide a better education for our student-athletes,” said Quinn. “It was great to hear input from our student-athletes on hand with Taylor and Mike. They told us what we might need, what works and what student-athletes respond to.”

Tomasetti said that she took a lot away from the weekend in California.

“One of the best aspects of this conference was hearing the different perspectives of athletes from all divisions; everyone brought something different to the discussion.” said Tomasetti. “Collaborating with other student-athletes was an engaging and meaningful experience.”

Piantedosi, who kept a blog during the weekend, was most impressed with one of the guest speakers on the first night, Tiana Tozer.

“Her story was amazing,” said Piantedosi. “Tiana played college basketball in Oregon before she was hit by a drunk driver while driving her friend’s car. She has had 34 reconstructive surgeries on her legs and it took her four years to learn to walk again. She told us how she won silver and bronze in the women’s basketball Paralympics in Barcelona and Atlanta.”

In addition to the motivational speaker and the informational sessions about the dangers of alcohol and substance abuse, there was another seminar pertaining to the use of dietary supplements and other illegal stimulants.  

“It was interesting to see what is legal and illegal in order to recover from workouts,” said Piantedosi. “The presenters offered insight on what to look for when considering taking any of these enhancers. He provided us with websites and tips to help use these tools when we return to our teams.”

The group also engaged in an intriguing team bonding contest that involved creating a Public Address Announcement. The spot had to be at least 30 seconds in length, use the words “It’s A Slam Dunk, Don’t Drive Drunk” and it could not contain music.

“We had been in extensive sessions all day and only had an hour and a half for team downtime, but we wanted to enter the contest when we found out the first prize was an Ipad mini.” said Tomasetti. “So we came up with ideas, narrowed things down, which spiraled into a rap.”

The video, which had every member of the team bust out a rhyme while doing a specific activity around the hotel, took home the first prize. The Worcester State contingent’s YouTube video beat out other schools that had entered like UCLA, UTEP and Stony Brook.

“It was a lot of fun,” said Tomasetti. “It was really cool to see how it all came together and how we were able to work without a whole lot of time.”

Tomasetti also said she took a lot away Tiana’s speech on the opening day as well.

“She told us that, while we were all very involved with athletics, there is a bigger picture to look at,” said Tomasetti. “You have to experience other things in life in order to phone out who you are.

“It’s not just about winning, it’s about finding out other things that are out there and trying to find out how the experience can help you in the future. You want to strive to get as much as you can out of your four years in college.”

The conference also discussed constructive ways about how to motivate your fellow peers and their friends, who might be older or younger than yourself. As a resident assistant, Tomasetti mentioned that this particular session was extremely beneficial.

“Each individual is different and they are motivated in different ways,” said Tomasetti. “But when you dig deeper, being compassionate is how you get people to open up. If you take the time to listen to people by being real and showing empathy, you can understand their point of view and you can motivate anyone.”